MATH 115A
Linear Algebra
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, two hours. Requisite: course 33A. Techniques of proof, abstract vector spaces, linear transformations, and matrices; determinants; inner product spaces; eigenvector theory. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 5.0
Units: 5.0
5 of 11
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Spring 2020 - DISCLAIMER: I TOOK THIS CLASS DURING THE FIRST FULL-TIME ONLINE QUARTER SO EXPERIENCES MAY VARY. Professor Honda is super approachable and a nice guy. He is always looking for questions and is happy to clarify something if you ask. However, his lectures are a hit or miss. Sometimes, he gives good lectures, but other times, he just reads off his slides. He often says things like "you know, this would be clear if I fully wrote it out" but never actually fully writes things out. He is not intimidating at all or anything like that, but I still didn't find his office hours to be that helpful. He knows his material but just has a hard time explaining at times. Grading: Since this was the COVID quarter, grading was weird. We had 8 weekly quizzes and they summed up 68 percent of your grade. The midterm and the final made up the other 32 percent (16 percent each). The quizzes are often from the homework he doesn't collect. However, he did have a few quiz questions that were too difficult. Otherwise, the quizzes aren't that bad. The midterm was also reasonable, but the final was a bit on the harder side. However, we had 24 hours to do it, so people did well. His curve, even though he said it would be generous, was a bit weird. I think his curve helps those who are doing badly than those who are doing well. His gaps between B+ and A- is too much, but getting an overall way below the median still pretty much gives you a B or B+. I didn't like the curve, but it is what it is. Overall, Honda isn't a bad professor, but there are definitely better. I wouldn't avoid Honda, but if there are better option, please go with those. As for the material of 115A, this is the first class you will probably see proofs, but it is honestly doable if you just stick to the definitions. Read the book and ask your TA all the questions you have. Good luck.
Spring 2020 - DISCLAIMER: I TOOK THIS CLASS DURING THE FIRST FULL-TIME ONLINE QUARTER SO EXPERIENCES MAY VARY. Professor Honda is super approachable and a nice guy. He is always looking for questions and is happy to clarify something if you ask. However, his lectures are a hit or miss. Sometimes, he gives good lectures, but other times, he just reads off his slides. He often says things like "you know, this would be clear if I fully wrote it out" but never actually fully writes things out. He is not intimidating at all or anything like that, but I still didn't find his office hours to be that helpful. He knows his material but just has a hard time explaining at times. Grading: Since this was the COVID quarter, grading was weird. We had 8 weekly quizzes and they summed up 68 percent of your grade. The midterm and the final made up the other 32 percent (16 percent each). The quizzes are often from the homework he doesn't collect. However, he did have a few quiz questions that were too difficult. Otherwise, the quizzes aren't that bad. The midterm was also reasonable, but the final was a bit on the harder side. However, we had 24 hours to do it, so people did well. His curve, even though he said it would be generous, was a bit weird. I think his curve helps those who are doing badly than those who are doing well. His gaps between B+ and A- is too much, but getting an overall way below the median still pretty much gives you a B or B+. I didn't like the curve, but it is what it is. Overall, Honda isn't a bad professor, but there are definitely better. I wouldn't avoid Honda, but if there are better option, please go with those. As for the material of 115A, this is the first class you will probably see proofs, but it is honestly doable if you just stick to the definitions. Read the book and ask your TA all the questions you have. Good luck.
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though he is a good teacher, knows the material very very well, and goes into depth in a lot of abstract concepts, there is one word i can use to describe this course: relentless. his curve is very tough, the midterms require you to understand all aspects of the material covered, and you have to do all sorts of proofs and problems to do well. i, for one, physically and mentally was unable to do the homework by myself as it is pretty difficult. going to office hours with the TA is essential if you want to guarantee passing the midterms and homework. it's a 5 day a week class, so you better make sure you're willing to commit to that topic for a quarter. i wasnt.
though he is a good teacher, knows the material very very well, and goes into depth in a lot of abstract concepts, there is one word i can use to describe this course: relentless. his curve is very tough, the midterms require you to understand all aspects of the material covered, and you have to do all sorts of proofs and problems to do well. i, for one, physically and mentally was unable to do the homework by myself as it is pretty difficult. going to office hours with the TA is essential if you want to guarantee passing the midterms and homework. it's a 5 day a week class, so you better make sure you're willing to commit to that topic for a quarter. i wasnt.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2019 - After reviewing all the comments on her 33A, I'm so shocked, I admit sometime she go through the concepts fast but that's not the excuse for not doing well in the class, and saying she is not a good professor, I mean you can always go to her office hour to ask questions if you don't understand the material, I went to her office hour almost every week, because 115A is a really hard class for me, I usually have some homework questions that I can't solve it myself, and she always really really helps! So I don't understand why the students from 33A have such bad impression on her, in my opinion, she is a great professor who cares students. The weekly quiz is homework problem, so if you do the homework, you are able to do the quiz, and her exams are fair, she gives us review before the exam, so if you don't receive a good grade, blame yourself. Finally, quoting from a previous review :"For those who attacks her Chinese accent, I have two words for you: 垃圾"
Fall 2019 - After reviewing all the comments on her 33A, I'm so shocked, I admit sometime she go through the concepts fast but that's not the excuse for not doing well in the class, and saying she is not a good professor, I mean you can always go to her office hour to ask questions if you don't understand the material, I went to her office hour almost every week, because 115A is a really hard class for me, I usually have some homework questions that I can't solve it myself, and she always really really helps! So I don't understand why the students from 33A have such bad impression on her, in my opinion, she is a great professor who cares students. The weekly quiz is homework problem, so if you do the homework, you are able to do the quiz, and her exams are fair, she gives us review before the exam, so if you don't receive a good grade, blame yourself. Finally, quoting from a previous review :"For those who attacks her Chinese accent, I have two words for you: 垃圾"
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2021 - I have extremely mixed feelings for this class hw 10%; 3 quizzes 10% each, lowest dropped; midterms 20% each; final 30% I would recommend always do the hw, and prepare for the quizzes because that one problem is 10% your grade. The lectures are intense, but as long as you remember all the (tons of) theorems, definitions, lemmas, claims, propositions, and proofs. For midterm, I believe it is supposed to be finished within an hour. However, leave at least 8h to yourself because the midterms are insanely hard. The final, well, he generously offered 48h, but trust me those 10 problems really needs 2 days to finish. Tests are insane and he seems to be enjoying that because lots of students gave him that feedback in the reports, but following exams only became more and more tough.
Fall 2021 - I have extremely mixed feelings for this class hw 10%; 3 quizzes 10% each, lowest dropped; midterms 20% each; final 30% I would recommend always do the hw, and prepare for the quizzes because that one problem is 10% your grade. The lectures are intense, but as long as you remember all the (tons of) theorems, definitions, lemmas, claims, propositions, and proofs. For midterm, I believe it is supposed to be finished within an hour. However, leave at least 8h to yourself because the midterms are insanely hard. The final, well, he generously offered 48h, but trust me those 10 problems really needs 2 days to finish. Tests are insane and he seems to be enjoying that because lots of students gave him that feedback in the reports, but following exams only became more and more tough.
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He is one of the better math professors that I have had at UCLA. His lectures are clear most of the time. I wouldn't suggest asking questions because half of the time he doesn't understand what you are asking. The other half of the time he gives a good explanation. His homework assignments are a bit tedious and are difficult. There are many resources online to help you gain points on the homework. The exams are much easier than the homework and are on the easier side compared to other math midterms/finals at UCLA.He doesn't ask for anything too complicated on his tests. The lectures are a good supplement to the book. I never went to office hours, so I can't comment on how helpful he was there. He spends 1 lecture before the midterm and 2 lectures before the final reviewing. This is helpful and the example problems he gives are similar to test questions. Not a bad class w/ this prof at all. Grade received: A
He is one of the better math professors that I have had at UCLA. His lectures are clear most of the time. I wouldn't suggest asking questions because half of the time he doesn't understand what you are asking. The other half of the time he gives a good explanation. His homework assignments are a bit tedious and are difficult. There are many resources online to help you gain points on the homework. The exams are much easier than the homework and are on the easier side compared to other math midterms/finals at UCLA.He doesn't ask for anything too complicated on his tests. The lectures are a good supplement to the book. I never went to office hours, so I can't comment on how helpful he was there. He spends 1 lecture before the midterm and 2 lectures before the final reviewing. This is helpful and the example problems he gives are similar to test questions. Not a bad class w/ this prof at all. Grade received: A
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